It is well-known that prior apparatus for the automatic packaging of compact discs include within their operating cycle insertion of booklets, covers, leaflets or the like into cases designed to receive the compact discs.
Usually feeding of these brochures is achieved with the aid of a belt conveyor by which the brochures are individually positioned close to a pick-up station where, by means of a mechanical handling device, the brochures are picked up to be conveniently fitted into the respective case.
Presently, placement down of the brochures onto the belt conveyor is performed manually by an operator assigned to assist with operation of the packaging machine.
More particularly, the operator, when it is necessary, places a number of brochures stacked on top of each other at the beginning of the longitudinal extension of the belt conveyor. The stacked brochures are distributed in a direction towards the pick-up station so that, when distribution is completed, each brochure projects towards the pick-up station with respect to the next one disposed immediately below.
The belt conveyor is then operated such that the brochures progress towards the pick-up station, until the pick-up station is reached by the first brochure in the stack.
The belt conveyor is then stopped in response to signals received from photoelectric cells or similar sensing devices positioned in the pick-up station, to thereby enable the handling device to pick up the first brochure. Thereafter, operation of the belt conveyor will be repeated so as to position the next brochure in the stack at the pick-up station.
However, these prior booklet insertion mechanisms have been found to have the following disadvantage.
First, the amount of brochures which can be disposed on the belt is closely related to the longitudinal extension of the belt conveyor. It is therefore difficult to obtain a sufficiently self-contained operation, especially in packaging machines of relatively small sizes, where the belt conveyor length is necessarily restricted. In addition, a correct distribution of the brochures on the belt requires a certain skill level of the operator.
Moreover, another disadvantageous aspect of the known art is the time required for periodically distributing the brochures on the belt conveyor, because, if an operator is performing this function, the operator will be unable to assist in the other operations of the packaging machine.